Many manufacturers apply radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to packaged materials and products to trace the flow of the materials and products through the manufacturing and supply chain. Each of the RFID tags stores an electronic product code (EPC) and/or other information related to the material or product. There is concern that any individual with a transmitter, not just the manufacturer, may be able to activate and detect a dormant RFID tag and track the flow of the material or product through the manufacturing and supply chain and on the retail shelves. After being discarded into the trash by the consumer, the RFID tag may be used to track consumer behavior. The consumer's trash then inadvertently becomes a source of market research data. To prevent such use of the RFID tag, the RFID tag must be decommissioned or otherwise deactivated or destroyed (e.g., after purchase of the product by the consumer). Further, the EPC should be destroyed after use to prevent counterfeit operations from reusing legitimate EPCs on counterfeit products.
Some previous systems dispose of waste by incineration. Other systems detect and quantify various kinds of waste such as those generated in a health care facility. Still other systems keep track of disposed items and suggest an order for replacing the disposed items. Still other systems sort trash in a recycling facility. While some prior systems block the radio frequency signal emitted from an RFID tag, none of the prior systems decommissions the RFID tag to protect user privacy.
Further, some articles include both an RFID tag containing a unique EPC as well as a printed label displaying the EPC. Some systems remove the printed EPC labels, but there is a risk of “dumpster diving” by counterfeiters to obtain these removed EPC labels. A discarded article that has both a printed EPC and an RFID tag storing the EPC has an increased chance of having the EPC obtained by a counterfeiter. While the printed label may be marked with a black marker to obscure the EPC and the RFID tag may be deactivated with electromagnetic energy or by broadcasting a terminating code to deactivate suitably designed chips, there is a risk that both decommissioning acts will not be performed by the consumer.